Fire crews from across the Bighorn Basin are responding to several small wildfires surrounding Thermopolis, Wyoming, sparked by a Tuesday afternoon thunderstorm.
A pair of the blazes, called the Hall Road Fire and Coyote Run fires, have burned almost 1,000 acres of juniper and sagebrush within a mile of Thermopolis. These are the largest of five wildfires the Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department is scrambling to contain.
Responders from the Meeteetse Volunteer Fire Department, Washakie County Fire District, Fremont County Fire District, Shoshone National Forest, Bureau of Land Management and Wyoming State Forestry have rushed to Hot Springs County to assist.
The Coyote Run Fire is still burning and uncontained, but concerns over its potential impact are low. Nevertheless, those circumstances could suddenly change because of the afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast.
“There is the possibility of more lightning this afternoon, and that’s a cause of concern,” said Ken Smith with the Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department. “People need to be cognizant and report smoke if they see it, because it could be a very bad fire season.”
Uncontained, Not Yet Dangerous
Smith had been on the scene of the Coyote Run Fire since Wednesday morning and said the situation on the ground was “going quite well.”
“The fire has really cooled down since yesterday,” he said. “We've got a couple of interior snags that are burning, but we've got a lot of crews out there working on it right now. Between the Forest Service, BLM and State Forestry, we’re getting those snags mopped up.”
The Coyote Run Fire to the south of Thermopolis and the Hall Road Fire to the north were started by lightning. The Hall Road Fire is larger at more than 800 acres, but Smith said the 175-acre Coyote Run Fire is burning closer to home.
“It’s within a mile of town, as the crow flies,” he said. “We have a helicopter on scene doing some aerial mapping, which will hopefully give us a better approximate size of this thing, but there’s currently no danger to Thermopolis, by any means.”
The Coyote Run Fire will likely remain “uncontained” for several days. Smith said all the responding agencies are careful about which words they use to ensure they keep the public safe and informed.
“We try not to call fires ‘contained’ or ‘controlled’ until we're sure we got a decent handle on it,” he said, “but there’s not a lot of cause for concern on this fire.”
A Bad Season To Avoid
The Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department has already been busy in 2025. Smith said the agency hasresponded to several wildfires over the last few months.
“We responded to several fires in the spring before the green up,” he said. “One of those fires was over 200 acres or so, and another one was probably only 40 acres, but it grew very intense, very fast.”
Smith said all the lightning strike fires from Tuesday’s thunderstorm were “contained fairly rapidly,” which is a testament to the responding agencies. But his assessment of the landscape is that it could be a bad year for wildfires in the Bighorn Basin.
“People need to be cognizant if they're burning trash, cigarettes, or anything that could cause a fire,” he said. “I know it feels early, but the fuel load and moisture show otherwise.”
Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day said conditions are primed for afternoon thunderstorms to pop up across Wyoming over the next week. These storms have more potential for lightning than moisture.
“These thunderstorms will form in the afternoon and evening hours, and they won’t last long, but they're going to be out there,” he said. “There will be places in the state that may not get a drop of rain this weekend, but the chances of thunderstorms are high enough that they will affect a lot of folks.”
The Hall Road Fire has been extinguished, and fire crews will likely be on the scene of the Coyote Run Fire over the weekend to respond to any additional starts from lightning. Thermopolis will be protected this time, but Smith said the fire risk will only increase as the summer gets hotter and drier.
“If people aren't careful, this could very well gear up to be a very bad fire season for us,” he said.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
